Hydrogen-rich gas production from the catalytic steam reforming of bio-oil model compounds was carried out in a fixed bed reactor. Bio-char, which was obtained from biomass gasification process and contained many alkali and alkaline metallic (AAEM) species, was used as a catalyst. The results showed that bio-char was effective in enhancing catalytic steam reforming of bio-oil model compounds and producing hydrogen rich gas. Temperature, S/B and WHSV were the operating variables which affected to a great extent of hydrogen production. The yield and concentration of hydrogen reached high values of 89.13% and 75.97%, respectively, under the condition of 900 degrees C, S/B of 3 and WHSV = 1. Acid treatment of bio-char was conducted to investigate the effect of inherent AAEM species on the catalytic activity of bio-char. It was found that the inherent AAEM species appear to have significant effect on the catalytic activity of bio-char especially the water-gas shift reaction under the current experimental conditions. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.